


Call Me When You Get This Message

by sweetopheliac



Series: And The Stars Go With You [2]
Category: Cyberpunk 2077 (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Dialogue Heavy, Explicit Language, F/M, Friendship, Nomad Life Path, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Spoilers, Survivor Guilt, Swearing, Voicemail
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:47:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28099422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweetopheliac/pseuds/sweetopheliac
Summary: How do you cope with losing your best friend in the whole world? For V it feels like nothing could ever take away that pain. Oddly enough she's found comfort in leaving him messages...even if she knows he'll never reply.
Relationships: Female V & Jackie Welles
Series: And The Stars Go With You [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2178600
Comments: 4
Kudos: 44
Collections: The Nomad || Lavinia "V" Vega





	1. Reality

The day had felt like it was never going to end. V felt both relief and another wave of sorrow as she stumbled through the threshold into her apartment. It had been barely a week after her return home from the clinic. Her emotions were still giving her a shake down. Depression was pulverizing her with an iron crowbar while guilt kicked her in the stomach and anger roared every so often. It was beyond tiring to say the least. And then today...

V tosses down her back pack before flopping onto her bed. There is no silence in Night City. The ambient noise of the chaos gives her some feeling of normalcy. The sound of her phone pinging catches her attention. With a sigh she looks down at the screen. It's just a text from Misty. She's thanking V again for encouraging her to attend the memorial despite the qualms between her and Mama Welles. V sends a message back saying it was no problem and if she needed anything to let her know. It's the least V could do, considering how much Misty's taken care of her after the heist along with the fact that it may as well have been V's fault that Jackie was dead. Bless her heart. She had sat with V in Viktor's clinic some times during her recovery, she had brought V home, and she had routinely checked up on her via calls and texts. That was above and beyond what V had expected. In all honesty, she had expected the opposite from both her and Mama Welles. Venomous curses, screaming, and blaming. That's what V had prepped for.

She starts scrolling through the texts between her and Jackie. Some are just business talk. Others are more humorous. No matter the conversation she reads all his messages in his voice. She laughs and she cries. Then curiosity takes a hold of her. It's an odd thing to do but she calls his phone. It rings several times before bringing up the voicemail recorder.

"Hey Jackie. It's been one hell of a day." An understatement, though in some respects not the worse day she's ever had. "I...went to your funeral today. Man, never thought I'd be saying that." Nor did she think she'd actually be attending such an event.

Mama Welles had called her early in the morning while V was in the middle of one of her pity parties. The phone rang a few times before she worked up the courage to answer it. It was a battle not to break down the entire time and flood the older woman with a sea of apologies. In the end she got the brief details from Mama Welles. V had gotten out of bed. Her body still ached but there was no way she was skipping out. After a quick, hot shower she had stared at her reflection in the mirror in silence. A quick brush of peach-colored hair, a little bit of make up and boom! Ready to go. She hadn't bothered trying to put on anything too fancy --- settling for clothes that were at least not ripped to shreds and clean. Or mostly clean.

"It was a nice. Mama Welles organized an ofrenda. Of course, me being me I...didn't have anything." And it made her feel even more shitty; if that was even possible . "Your mom was generous enough to give me the key to your garage. Told me to go pick something out and that it was the thought that mattered."

Misty had gone inside with her. Looking around coupled with Misty's commentary had given V a different look at her best friend. 

"I picked For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway. Was surprised to see it. Didn't know you had a thing for the classics!" She lets out a soft chuckle. It seemed there was a lot she hadn't gotten to know about him. "I remember reading it as part of my homeschooling. Off topic though."

Boots are kicked off and each land in a random spot while she further curls up in her bed. "It was a beautiful. Truly." She's gone silent for a moment, grabbing one of her pillows and pulling it into a deathly tight hold. "Everyone misses you. I miss you. But I'll be joining you soon. Long story short the relic both saved my life but is now killing. Ain't that some shit?"

Just when she thought she couldn't cry anymore, V feels tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. "Fuck. Anyways I gotta go. Drank too much tequila, and I'm about to start bawling like a fucking baby. Call me back when you get this message." The last part is added without a thought. It's only a minute after she hangs up that she realizes what she said. And that realization stabs her in the heart, causing the dam to break and the sobs burst out, only to be muffled when she shoved her face into a pillow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So apparently you can call Jackie's phone throughout the rest of the game after his funeral and leave him voicemails. :')
> 
> Anyways I hope you enjoyed this! Comments & Kudos are much appreciated!


	2. Jumpstart My Heart

"So I never did give you the dets on this whole dying thing, huh?" V says, scanning a row of vending machines. "Vik gave me the technical shit but don't ask me to repeat all that mumbo jumbo." She comes to a halt in front of one of the Nicola machines. A quick glance is given before she pulls a wire from her wrist and jacks into the machine. It takes just a few seconds before she reaps her reward of about 700 eddies. An easy score. She can't help but grin like a cat that got the canary.

"Pretty much the way I understand it is that the relic had an engram of Johnny Silverhand on it. You know from that retro band Samurai. Preem right?"

Speak of the Devil and he shall appear. Leaning against the vending machine beside her is the resident asshole. He stares her down through his tinted shades. The man is damn near unreadable. Unless he's screaming, bitching or beating up their now shared body.

V's expression sours the more she looks at him. "Except it's not. Bastard's beat the shit out of me, threatened me. Not a nova time at all." she says it as she stares down the dead rocker.

"The fuck, V? I thought we were past that." It's a half-hearted attempt to sound offended. And then he shows his true colors. She can imagine he just rolled his eyes at her even if she can't see the action. "Christ V, suck a dick and get over it."

V shoots him the bird, sticking her tongue out childishly as well. After that she refuses to pay the asshole any more attention. "Anyways, long story short is Dex shot me in the fucking head point blank." Eyes wander down to the necklace made with the bullet Viktor had pulled from her skull. Fingers ghost over the metal shell and the wires holding it within place. Her smile fades. "With me zeroed the chip read my brain as being empty and started transfering the data or whatever into my body. Everything that makes me well...me is being deleted...re-written to make my body compatible for Johnny. Th-"

But V doesn't have a chance to finish her thought or sentence as a coughing fit erupts. It hurts so damn bad. Her lungs feel like they are on fire. Her throat conteacts as she gasps for air while her legs begin to buckle. Hands reach out, grasping for anything to hold onto. Nails scratch against the lit up glass of a burrito machine. Just when she thinks she's about to fall, Johnny glitches infront of her with a cigarette in his mouth. He catches her. Sort of. More like just helps stabilizes her. Despite being not solid, she can feel his grip on her clear as day. It's a surprisingly warm sensation.

"Easy there tiger. Don't want to damage our body."

The audacity he has to call it their body. A wave of anger surges through her. Yet as quickly as it came the fire of rage dissipates. She has no energy to be mad at him currently. Her breathing steadies and she remembers her phone call. She pulls away from him, damn near walking through him 

"Point is there's nothing Viktor can do. I'm just dying. Wasting away. You remember Saburo's body guard? Well besides killing Dex, he's the one that brought me to Vik. I met up with him at Tom's Diner. He claims that Araska's the only way to cure me."

The taste of copper lingers on her tongue and she feels something dribble down her chin. She wipes it off with the back of her hand, eyes widened at the sight of dark crimson.

"Then Johnny claims Rogue might be able to help. There's also the chance Maybe Evelyn might know something." At last her composure returns. It's only a few steps more till she reaches her vehicle. "I just...don't know what to do Jack." She says, carefully opening the car door and sliding into the driver's seat. "Guess I'll figure something out or die trying. Sorry for the info dump. I'll talk to you later."

Right when she hangs up, Johnny materializes in the passenger seat. He props his feet up on the dash and leans back. Another cigarette glitches into his fingers. Must be nice to be so carefree. "So what are we going to do?" He barely spares her a glance.

There he goes with the whole 'we' thing again. V shakes her head, turning the keys and putting the car into gear. "Can't meet Goro till later. Guess we'll swing by afterlife and pay Rogue a visit."

Her frown deepens as she watches Johnny smirk smugly. "But you better not be screwing me over with this idea. And be on some bit of good behavior, yeah?" She hisses before pulling from the curb into traffic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this chapter!  
> Comments and Kudos are much appreciated!


	3. Stressed Out

The hot water does wonders for her sore body. Not to mention it feels nice to wash the dirt and grime off of her skin. Another day down of grinding for eddies. No matter how much money she made it never seemed to be enough. Rent, gas, car repairs, food. The list goes on and on. On top of that she owes Viktor 21,000 eddies while Rogue wants 15,000 in exchange for her information and aid. Both are important for different reasons. But of the two, her debt to the ripperdoc takes a little bit more higher priority. Vik's done a lot for her out of kindness and goodwill. Beyond that, he's one of the few friends she's got. Rogue on the other hand is just...Rogue. Cold, calculating, withdrawn. The off putting attitude is understandable to a degree, especially considering how Night City is. Johnny may have a fondness for the older woman, however; to V she's just another fixer. Albeit a high ranking and legendary one. She needs Rogue though if she's going to explore all her options to get this mess settled.

V is quick to slip on a tank top and loose shorts before her mental roomate can appear. Perhaps it's odd she wants some bit of modesty preserved. God only knows what memories of hers he's snooped through.

She flips the TV on and to a random station. The reality show serves as background noise to drown out the sounds of the city and center her thoughts. Out the window she can see the sunset starting to set. Even so, the neon lights pierce through the sky.

She takes a deep breath, grabs her gear and moves into her weapons room. V dials Jackie's number without hesitation. She knows it by heart. "You know I never realized how high the cost of living is." Boxes of ammo are stacked on her work bench while she works on putting her guns in their assigned places on the wall rack. "I mean sure, living as a Nomad required money too. Especially for little luxuries. But there was a number of things we could just craft or make do with." She smiles fondly as she puts the last weapon up --- a magenta pistol she swiped from Lizzie's Bar. It's easily become one of her favorites.

"Hell there were numerous times just had to sort of do without. Or use something till it couldn't be used." She remembers getting hand-me-downs from other families. She remembers helping disassemble old electronics when she was about six. She remembers digging through junkyard and landfills in search of salvageable items. And she remembers nights when they would eat MREs for dinner while sitting around a campfire. No matter what the times were like, her parents and even the Clan made sure she had all the necessities she needed. 

V exits her armory to take a glance at her computer. She's gotten quite good at using it and the net. Or at least her skills with it are better than what they were. Her computer skills were minimal when she first came to Night City. "So far got three possible leads that could maybe stop the relic from killing me. Rogue's got info on the creator of the chip but of course it comes at a price. Evelyn's missing so I gotta find her before I can figure out who hired her and all the why's. And later this evening I'm meeting with Saburo's bodyguard. He thinks if we can get a meeting with Hanako Arasaka that we can plead our case and then I can get a cure. " A soft meow catches her attention as she's scrolling through her emails. She smiles and picks up the sphinx cat. "I don't know which is my better chance. As okay as Goro seems I don't trust Arasaka."

Nibbles settles in her lap, curling up into a ball. She can feel and hear him purring. It's oddly comforting. "I gotta go. Gonna chill out out a bit before heading out. Out fo the frying pan and into the fire." Her smile fades slightly. She wishes he was here to help her through it.

Gently, she pets the cat's head careful not to disturbed the sleeping creature. At least one of them is living a carefree life. "Before I go, do you know how hard it is to find cat food? Fucking ridiculous...A shame cats don't eat burritos, ya know?"


	4. Heart's Truth

"You know I really shouldn't be surprised by shit my luck seems to be." A couple of French fries are shoved in her mouth as she leans back in her seat. "Meeting with Takemura and his contact or whatever went about as good as you could guess it would. In others words, we got fucked. Sort of." V takes a drink of the chocolate shake before getting another handful of fries. She can see Johnny out of the corner of her eye shake his, scoffing at her. Fuck him though. Like his expressions of shame and disgust have stopped her before. "So now he's wanting to take a more extreme approach. Said to give him some time to get things together."

"You can tell the 'Saka lap dog to take a hike. Better yet, flatline him before he does so to us." Johnny badgers. He flickers from the passenger seat to the back seat, sprawling out like a lazy house cat. A cigarette materializes into his grasp.

V almost scolds him for smoking in her precious car, yet stops when she realizes that technically the cigarette isn't real. However, for some odd reason she can still smell the smoke. It's comforting to a certain degree --- reminds her of her younger years. She's already broke down and had a cig after his incessant nagging. Eleven years without one and that first puff had reminded her why she quit in the first place.

"Other than that. Rogue hooked me up. Meeting with another nomad tomorrow named Panam. An exchange of favors or something like that." V waved a hand dismissively. She's equal parts excited and nervous. It's been so long since she's been around any other Nomads. Biz is biz no matter what. Yet having dealings with someone of a similar background brought just a little bit of comfort to her heart.

"As far as leads go with Evelyn, I got one at a place called Clouds. I wouldn't even know how to describe it. I got the information I needed. I also got banned for life." Johnny had called her the queen of fuck ups while she went through the place putting bullets in skulls as she floundered her way through, creating chaos as usual. He hadn't been wrong in his assessment really. Everything she touched seemed to become tainted somehow. That or God was just not in the mood to cut her some slack. Maybe both. "It's not looking good for her. But the weirdest thing happened while I was there. Well to start off with, I met with this Doll named Angel. His opening line was how he's my angel." V can't help but chuckle softly at the memory. She had to give the guy points for that opener, even if he probably told everyone that. It's one of the better ones she's heard.

"He knew my name. Probably because I had to jack into the system before hand but..." Her smile starts to fade. "He knew I was dying. Kept trying to keep on track with questions about Evelyn. Didn't go that way. Not really." The paper bag is set aside while the half empty cup is placed in the holder. Just thinking about that moment makes her appetite vanish. "So I guess you could say I got a therapy session with a Robohooker. I spilled my guts to the guy. Told him about how I'm afraid of dying again. That I just wanted to make something of my life. Mentioned that I hoped maybe I would be a fond memory at least in everyone's mind. The works." It's like a damn had burst and she had just let it all out. But Angel seemed to take it all like a champ. After the death of her mother, there was no dealing with or talking about emotions. There was only sucking it up, bottling them away and getting over whatever ruffled your feathers. "You know I've never been great with dealing with feelings. Never learned how to. We laid there on a bed, me baring my heart and him just holding my hand. It was...so nice Jackie."

It sounded so stupid. That one little bit of affection she had gotten from Angel was like having a few drops of water after wandering a desert. It left her with this thirst for more --- more touches, more embraces, more tenderness. That's not the biggest issue at hand currently.

V stares out at the parking lot of the fast food joint. Despite the darkness of night, the area's illuminated by the neon lights of not just the business, but the rest of the city as well. The sound of the rain mixes with the low volume of the radio. While she watches raindrops race down her windshield, she feels tears start to flow down her cheeks. Fuck. If she had a hundred eddies for each time she's cried since this whole fiasco started, she'd be one rich bitch.

"I just feel horrible about everything. I know I've said it before but we never should have taken that job. Or if anything, I should have been the one to die." And the waterworks keep coming. Shit. Sometimes she really hated herself. Especially the fact that she was such an ugly crier. There's no doubt what little makeup she bothered to put on is ruined. "All of this just because I wanted some sort of meaning to my life. It doesn't matter now. Because in the end, I'll be joining ya real soon."

Inhale. Exhale. A fake smile spreads across her lips. "Anyways man, I'll talk to you later. Gotta get home. Maybe I'll grab some booze on the way. Take care, ya hear?" And then she hangs up. Her face is red as a cherry slushie. That redness makes the freckles that dot her flesh stand out more. Her eyes sting and she can feel the snot about to run from her nose (an issue solved by quickly by grabbing a spare napkin). She hates crying. Most of all, she hates that she has to deal with emotions. Nothing but trouble.

"V..." Johnny murmurs, leaning in close to her.

She jumps in her seat, turning to look at him. V's forgotten he's there. At first she's angry; angry that he sees her like this and even angrier that he has an inside look at all the turmoil that bubbles inside of her being. That anger doesn't last long, replaced by mental and physical exhaustion. Fingers fiddle with the pendant around her. "What is it now, Johnny?" she sighs.

"Not gonna let you die. I mean that." His voice is gentle; a quality V didn't know he could exude. "We'll find a way to fix all of this. You're gonna live, and you're gonna do it in your own body."

She can feel the cool metal of his cyberware when he places a hand on her shoulder. His expression is sympathetic. There's doubt in her heart that everything will truly be fine. That doesn't stop his words and gesture from bringing her comfort along with just the slightest bit of hope. "Thanks." A hand is placed over his, her thumb caressing the non-existent metal. "How about we go home?"

He gives her a nod, popping back into the passenger seat. He turns the radio volume up a bit more before propping his feet up on the dashboard.

There's silence between them on the drive home. V's calmed down and her composure is back in tact for the most part. She parks her Thorton Mackinaw in the garage of her apartment building. Yet she doesn't get out immediately. Instead she sits there a moment, gnawing on her bottom lip.

"What's on your mind now?"

"I just thought...nevermind. It was stupid." V shakes her head and exits the vehicle.

Johnny raises a brow as he glitches beside her in the elevator. He doesn't bother interrogating her, to which she's thankful. She doesn't think she can handle dealing with anymore feelings today. She just wants sleep. Tomorrow's a new day. Another new shitty day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this chapter!  
> Comments and Kudos are much appreciated!


End file.
